Descendant of two Qantas founders, Duncan Fysh, from Julia Creek, also attended the celebrations in Cloncurry with Friends of John Flynn Place and shire council representatives.

John Flynn Place secretary Chris McDonald, who lives at the cattle property once owned by the first Qantas passenger, said World War I light-horsemen Hudson Fysh and Paul McGuinness had a chance meeting in Cloncurry while surveying air strips between Darwin and Sydney in 1919. 

“They met Fergus McMaster, who was managing Devoncourt Station, where we live, and he became the first chairman of Qantas,” Mrs McDonald said. 

“They met Alexander Kennedy who was in his 80s, and he had lived at Devoncourt 20 years, and was inspired by ideas of flying. 

“He gave 250 pounds if he could be the first passenger on Qantas.”

Mr Kennedy obviously foresaw the potential of being able to travel fast across large and remote station properties, she said. 

The Royal Flying Doctor Service’s founder Reverend John Flynn was also friends with the Qantas founders and used the company’s planes and pilots. 

Mr Kennedy traveled on the first passenger flight between Longreach to Cloncurry on November 2, 1922, which also stopped at Winton and McKinlay, and originally flew from Charleville as part of the mail service.

The flight was piloted by Hudson Fysh. 

Mr Kennedy’s ticket was an exhibit at the Cloncurry celebration. 

Mrs McDonald anticipated the 100^th anniversary would be a larger scaled acknowledgement. 

An afternoon tea was also held at McKinlay’s Walkabout Creek Hotel during a local community meeting on Monday. 

McKinlay was a stop on the Qantas mail flight between 1922 and 1934, and from then became an emergency stop. 

Publican Debbie Wurst said the community meetings were held by locals to discuss events, and that the anniversary of Qantas was “perfectly timed”.